Jack has just finished his shift at 3, he's quickly packing his things up while Adam stares at him, wondering why the hell he's rushing off so quickly.
"Big plans?" Adam asks, curiously.
Jack nods "Uh yeah, sort of. I've got plans at four, so I have to get home." He smiles, slinging his bag over his shoulder, "See ya!" He grabs his keys from his pocket and darts out of the department store's photo center.
The drive home is once again too long for his liking. He rushes inside as soon as his car is parked safely in the driveway and runs up to his room.
Jack: Hey I'm a little early!
He sends to Alex.
Alex of course texts back at lightning speed.
Alex: Of course you are :) I'm ready anyway. I'm already at the place I want to take pictures so call me.
Jack FaceTimes him with an excited smile on his face.
Alex answers with a smile that matches Jack's. He's got a black t shirt on this time and a red baseball cap over his brown fringe.
"Hey!" Alex grins, then turns the camera, showing Jack where he is.
Except Jack knows where he is.
"Druid Hill Park?" He asks, "I recognize the Latobe Pavilion back there." What the fuck is Alex doing in Baltimore? There's no way.
Alex pans the camera back to himself, eyes a bit wide. He clicks off the video to look at Jack's phone number in his contacts. He hadn't paid any attention to it when Jack texted him the first time, he just saved the number. 410. Baltimore area code.
"Holy shit." Alex says as he gets back on the video, "You're in Maryland?" He asks.
Jack nods "Yeah...I'm in Towson...You're here too?" His heart is pounding. This is unreal.
Alex bites his bottom lip, nodding his head "Y-yeah..." He stutters a bit. This isn't supposed to happen.
Jack nods "Yeah..." It's awkward now, and the tension is heavy. He feels bad. He understands why Alex wouldn't want this, but the look on Alex's face and his tone of voice makes him a bit sad.
"We never have to meet you know, if you don't want to...We can pretend this never happened..." Jack says a bit sadly. That's the exact opposite of what he wants to happen.
Alex is quiet for a moment, in all truth he's debating hanging up completely.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, "No...No, it's okay. Just shocked me a little. We're so close and we haven't see each other?" He asks, shaking his head.
Jack nods, "I know...Maybe we have and just didn't notice."
"So you're the Jack I heard some red headed dude talking about after all." Alex mutters, sitting down in the grass.
Jack raises an eyebrow at him, "Excuse me?" Adam? Alex had seen Adam and heard him talking about him?
Alex looks at the screen, "Yeah. I was at the store with my roommate and I heard some guy mentioning someone named Jack coming out to Mirage. I almost went to the damn club just to see, because I was curious. I decided against it, and then you sent me that picture and I saw the MI and the logos on the bartender's name tags. I swore it had to be a coincidence, but I guess not...So you really were at Mirage?"
Jack smiles a little bit, "Yeah. I was. It was awful. I was beyond bored and some nerdy dude tried to hit on me. That's when I texted you and decided to leave." He chuckles to himself a little, thinking of how let down the poor boy looked.
Alex smiles at him, "I don't want to pretend like this never happened, I don't think. Maybe we're supposed to meet. I don't know. I believe in fate and stupid shit like that. Like we're supposed to know each other." He shrugs his shoulders, glancing over to the side as a squirrel darts past him.
"Yeah...I kind of do too. Sometimes. I mean, would you want to ever meet up with me?" Jack tilts his head a bit as he asks, his stomach in knots.
The look on Alex's face is thoughtful and careful, "I don't see why not...You did say you want to take me on a real date. Maybe we could hang out sometime." It doesn't seem like an awful idea, Jack doesn't seem like an axe murderer, ready to lure him in. Then again, you never know when you meet someone on the internet.
Jack smiles, "We could get coffee?" He suggests. That's casual. That's public. They can easily walk away from each other if they don't hit it off in person.
"Sure. Coffee sounds like a good plan. Tonight?" Alex asks, figuring if it's going to happen, they might as well get it over with.
Jack smiles at him, "Tonight. Koba Cafe?"
Alex nods, "Sure. Maybe you can still help me take some pictures, since that was our plan after all. I can go home and get changed right now, meet you there in about 45 minutes?"
"I can do that." Jack says calmly, although he really wants to explode. This is actually happening.
They hang up with each other and both are immediately darting about. Realistically speaking, this shouldn't be as big of a deal as it is, yet here they both are. Both actually rather into each other, and both have been right there this whole time and neither knew about it.
Fate is a funny thing indeed.
Jack is at Koba before Alex is. He sits down at a little table by the window and waits, close to the door in case Alex wants to bolt. He did seem rather shocked and nervous when he realized that Jack knew exactly where he was, so he figures he'll give the kid an out. He's looking his best in black jeans, a grey and white striped long sleeve shirt with his leather jacket over it, his hair done up nicely.
He looks up to see the beautiful brunette walk through the door. Alex is in the tightest dark blue jeans Jack has ever seen on a person. They have to be painted on his skin, they're so tight. He's got a burgundy v neck top on now and a grey beanie. Truth be told, he looks adorable. In person, he doesn't look like the boy who accentuates his every feature online. He looks soft, and gentle. He looks anxious, which is a far cry from his online persona.
"Alex" Jack gets up to greet him.
Alex smiles at him and hugs him. Good lord Alex smells amazing.
Jack hugs him back, pretty sure he's either about to pass out or have a heart attack. Maybe both.
"Hey." Alex says as he pulls back from the friendly hug, "Did you order yet?" He asks.
Jack shakes his head, "No I thought I'd wait for you."
They go to the counter and order their drinks, which Jack insists upon paying for. After all, he did say he'd much rather take Alex out on a real date.
They're back at their table again, both quietly sipping their drinks, Alex occasionally taking a bite of his salad.
"How did I not realize you lived here?" Alex asks, and Jack wonders if he's talking out loud to himself, or actually asking Jack the question. Alex looks at him when he doesn't receive an answer.
Jack inhales, "I don't know. I mean, you have my phone number. You just missed it I guess? All I have is your email and whatever phone number you used to let me call you from." He shrugs his shoulders.
Alex nods, "Yeah. It's a burner phone with a New Jersey area code. I don't have my real number linked to the account. That would be dangerous. I guess I just didn't pay attention when I saved your number." He bites his bottom lip. Jack notices that he's got a bit of a knack for doing that when he's nervous.
"Is it a bad thing that we do live so close together?" Jack's been wanting Alex's input on that since their FaceTime session at the park.
Alex looks thoughtful again as he tries to come up with an answer, "It could be a bad thing if you're not who I hope you are."
Jack smiles, "I mean, I hope you are who I think you are too. I really do work at a photo center in the JC Penney, my friend you overheard is Adam and he works with me. I live alone in a little apartment in Towson, and I really do own my own photography business. I don't think I ever actually showed you it, but look." He gets on his phone and pulls up a Facebook account for his photography page. He slides his phone to Alex.
Alex picks the phone up and starts looking through the thousands of photos Jack's taken. They're beautiful. He's done weddings, he's done solo shoots, boudoir shoots for couples and solo boudoir shoots for women, maternity photos, nature photos. Everything.
"Wow." Alex says quietly, "Life in the Lens Photography. I like the name. I've actually heard of you before, then."
Jack smiles, "Have you really?" He sips his latte, amused at Alex's facial expression as he's realizing that he's seen Jack's work before.
Alex nods, "I have. My roommates mom booked you for this photoshoot for Jenna's sister Sammy." He pulls up a maternity shoot and shows Jack.
Jack smiles, "Oh yeah! That's Samantha. I remember her. She was a fun momma to photograph."
They talk for a while about seemingly nothing and everything all at once, and Jack did in fact show Alex a few tricks with his camera, helping Alex take really artsy pictures of their drinks. The photos weren't special or really that good by any means, but they had fun. Turns out, Alex is the chef at Jack's favorite place to get dinner, Chiapparelli's. Jack wonders how many meals he's eaten that Alex has cooked up for him.
They've long since finished their coffees, but neither of them want to leave.
"Do you regret coming to meet me?" Jack asks curiously. As great as the conversation was, Alex is so different in person. He's definitely not all flirty constantly, and he's a bit hard to read. He's more reserved and shy.
Alex offers him that sweet, close mouthed smile, "I don't regret it. I had fun, and it's cool that we got to talk about things other than what we have been, now that I can share some of the things that I really do with you."
"I had fun too. You're nice to talk to. It's different in person. I liked it. I hope maybe one day soon, we can do this again." Jack smiles.
Alex nods in agreement, getting up. Jack joins him.
Alex hugs him again, kissing his cheek, "I think one day soon can definitely happen. I'll let you know when I'm home safe." He says as he walks out of the cafe.
Jack's cheeks are red as he follows suit, getting out of the cafe and into his car to head home.
Alex really had fun with him and wants to do this again. He wants to do this again?
Sure enough, Alex kept his promise.
Within ten minutes of Jack arriving home, he got a text message from a different number.
(Unknown): It's Alex. This is my real number. I just got home.
Jack saves the number, replacing the OnlyFans one with it.
Jack: Oh cool, thanks for giving me your actual number. :) Glad you got home safe. You know, I didn't ask, and I probably should have. I was thinking about it though, should I unsubscribe to you now that I know you in person?
Alex smiles a little at his politeness.
Alex: You definitely don't have to, but if you want to, that's fine.
Jack: I just don't want you to be uncomfortable or anything. I mean, I'd like to see you again in person rather than OnlyFans.
Alex: I'm not uncomfortable at all, although I guess it could get uncomfortable if we really do hit whatever this is off.
Jack: It's okay, I can unsubscribe Alex. I'd rather see you in real life anyway.
He gets on OnlyFans and unsubscribes.
Alex: Just got the notification. Thank you :) I'd rather see you in real life too.
Jack: Glad we're on the same page then :) So when do I get to see you next?
Alex: I work tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday and I've got classes after work. So, Thursday? All I have is a morning lesson and some assignments to do. I've got a few calls and pictures to do Thursday too, but I can do those right after I'm done with my assignments.
Jack: Thursday sounds perfect. Any specific time good?
Alex: How about 7 PM? Where should we go?
Jack: Dinner? I don't know, we can go anywhere :)
Alex: Then let's start with dinner. :) I can meet you at RA Sushi?
Jack: Sounds good. See you at 7 Thursday then.
He hates to admit how jealous it makes him that Alex has calls and pictures to do before their little date, if that's what this is. He has to dial himself back. This is getting ridiculous. He can't be possessive over someone he's paid for, and then someone he's taken out one time.
It's what he does. It's how you met him. You're being stupid. He's not just going to stop because you managed to impress him just a little. He's not going to stop just because he's letting you take him out again. He never even said if it was a date or not. Lord knows if he even wants to date you, Jack. Get it together. He hates having to force himself to think about not being jealous. Still, he can't exactly help it either. He just can't project it onto Alex. It's not Alex's fault that he's a hopeless romantic with the clinginess of a newborn baby.
The week passes by slowly, but he and Alex have texted and FaceTimed plenty of times through it all. Their flirting has changed quite a lot.
Alex acted more like the Alex that Jack met at Koba Cafe, and less like the Alex he met on OnlyFans, which is perfectly fine. It just meant that Alex got more flustered when Jack said certain things, like he looks nice, or his smile is pretty, and Alex talked to Jack differently. Rather than too much actual dirty talk, he complimented his hair more often, or he'd look at recent photography Jack had done and comment on that. It's nice, it's starting to feel more real to Jack.
Alex isn't just the guy that Jack paid for a while. Still, unsubscribing to Alex had Jack once again feeling pretty sexually frustrated, regular porn is still just as boring as it was when he first met Alex, after all.
Instead, Jack reminds himself of previous conversations he'd had with the pretty brunette. Particularly the one where they wound up fucking on the dining room table. That's his favorite, and he gets off to the idea rather easily with the help of the photo of Alex in just his apron.
Once Thursday evening finally arrives, Jack is a huge mix of excited and nervous.
He's in the restaurant, right at the front waiting for Alex to arrive. He's about ten minutes late and Jack's had no word from him.
He's beginning to wonder if he's been stood up, still, he decides to wait.
After another ten minutes goes by, he texts Alex.
Jack: Hey, you're 20 minutes late. You okay?
Alex: Shit I'm so sorry...Stuck with a subscriber. Fifteen minutes?
Jack frowns and sits down outside the restaurant on the bench by the door.
Jack: Yeah, that's fine.
Not really.
Alex: I'm so so so so so sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. See you soon.
Jack: No biggie.
He sighs, putting his phone in his pocket.
Alex comes jogging up closer to twenty minutes later, rather than fifteen, making him a total of forty minutes late.
"Jack, I'm so sorry" Alex says as he approaches the dark haired, tall man.
Jack stands up from the bench and smiles a little, hugging Alex "It's alright. Stuff happens. Let's eat, yeah?"
Alex nods, "Yes please."
They go inside and get seated rather quickly, much to Jack's appreciation. He hadn't eaten much of a lunch today.
"What are you gonna get?" Alex asks, peeking up from his menu.
Jack shrugs, "Uhm...I think probably the dragon roll, tempura, miso soup and fried rice." He smiles.
Alex smiles back, "Sashimi plate for me, tempura, miso, and fried rice."
"And a seaweed salad." Jack adds on.
Alex smiles, "Sounds delicious."
They're enjoying their meals, talking about the other's work and what their jobs are like, with Jack mostly complaining about toddlers. He loves kids, he truly does but they're so obnoxious in the studio.
"Kids are just so much better to work with when they're in a more natural environment, like at a park for example. I do a lot of family shoots in their own home, or in the park, and it's so much easier to get them to focus. There aren't huge lights in their face, and parents aren't repetitively pointing at my camera telling them to 'smile big' or telling them that they won't get ice cream if they don't listen. It's so frustrating sometimes." Jack complains.
Alex laughs a little, imagining the chaos in his head, "That definitely doesn't sound fun. I had a lady who literally came into the kitchen because she was pissed at me. She ordered pescatore, right? And that's shrimp, clams, mussels and calamari, with the restaurant's homemade marinara, over linguine pasta. Not a huge thing. No big. She sent it back twice, first time she said there wasn't enough sauce. That's an easy enough fix. The second time it came back, she said there wasn't enough calamari. Okay. That's fine too. The third time, she literally walked right past the wait staff, right through my kitchen and stopped dead in front of me while I'm cooking someone's fucking ribeye and goes 'Do you not know how to cook?' and goes on this long tirade about how her grandmother from Italy would be disgusted at how Italian restaurants are run, and how they shouldn't have a teenager cooking. I stopped her and said that I'm 23 and I've been cooking at the restaurant since I was a teenager. I told her she needed to leave my kitchen and I'd happily make her a new dish of her choosing. Like, I'm not even the head chef, I was at that moment because he was out sick, but she was literally insane. She demanded that she watch me remake what she asked for. So to entertain her, I do and she watches my every move. She's criticizing everything. I finish the dish and she tells me it's 'good enough' but that she won't be paying for it. I literally just gave up, packed it in a to go box, handed her the box and made her leave. Her whole table was so mad at her. That was the only good part of that night." He shakes his head.
"People like that are literally insane. I'm so sorry." Jack sighs, "I really hate working for people. I mean, it's fun sometimes and obviously jobs are a necessity, but fuck I wish I could just take off more with my photography and make that a full time thing. Big dreams though." He smiles a little.
"I still want you to do a shoot for me." Alex smiles.
Jack raises an eyebrow, "What kind of shoot?"
Alex shrugs, "A sexy one maybe." He smiles.
"I'm listening."
Alex tilts his head as he thinks, "Well. I don't do nudes for just the page itself. Obviously those must be purchased and approved, but you see, I do often do shoots where I am covered. Barely, but I am covered. I saw your boudoir shoots and wondered if maybe you'd want to do one for me?" He smiles.
Jack thinks about it, wondering where and how they'd get it done.
"Yeah, we could do that. Where exactly were you thinking? Because I usually do boudoirs in the client's actual bedroom, but I mean I have my guest room at my place and I've done a few there. I've done some in an actual studio, but it was my client's art studio that she had turned into a boujie bedroom scene, since her studio is just a rented studio apartment that she uses for her classes." He shrugs.
Alex smiles "My bedroom works perfectly fine." He licks his lips a little.
Jack nearly loses it at that, but keeps his composure.
They finish dinner, but their date isn't quite done yet.
"Ice cream?" Alex smiles at Jack as they walk side by side.
Jack nods, "Sure, Rita's?" He points towards the direction, his hand brushing against Alex's as he drops it back down.
Alex nods and smiles a little, brushing Jack's hand back.
They play that little game for a good five minutes before Jack interlocks his fingers with Alex's.
Alex gives his hand a gentle squeeze, Jack's favorite smile planted on his face.
"I think your dimples are cute." He says as Alex's cheeks turn red.
"Really? I don't like them." He looks up at the slightly taller man.
Jack shrugs "I think they suit your face and that smile perfectly." He says calmly as they approach the ice cream place.
The two order cones, Jack pays, and they hold hands as they continue their walk.
Jack settles on a bench by the fountain in the little downtown area, sitting down and patting the spot next to him.
Alex joins him and looks around at the people bustling about around them.
"Thank you, Jack. For all of this. If I can be honest, I didn't really expect to get much out of this after finding out that we live so close. I kind of panicked, I wasn't sure if I wanted to block you, or just ghost you, or if I wanted to just meet up with you, you know. Put my money where my mouth is, sort of thing. I'm glad I went with the last option." He smiles.
Jack smiles back at him, "I'm glad you did too."